


But All Things Considered, I'd Still Choose You

by theshippingexpress



Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Goldstein drama, Multi, Spoilers for Alfonse's route, Spoilers for Caesar's route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-08-04 06:46:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16341830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshippingexpress/pseuds/theshippingexpress
Summary: After revealing his identity, Alfonse has been getting harassed by noblewomen. So, taking a page out of Klaus's book, he asks his good friend, Caesar Raphael, to date him so people will leave him alone. Watch these two dorks fall in love.





	1. The Goldstein Heir

“It's hard to believe that this is the source of all the trouble, eh?”

Caesar rolled the stone over in his hands; he still couldn't quite believe he had it now. And yet they'd done it. With the help of the Goldstein family, they'd traveled into the depths of the Labyrinth, freed the cursed prince, and retrieved the Star Sapphire. All of the years of searching, of hoping, that one day he might come close to touching its light, and now the Star Sapphire was in his hands.

If only it would be so easy. Even if he had the Star Sapphire, he still had to find his true love, and he didn't have a clue where to start. He had believed that the woman had been the answer, but..

“So, what's so important about that little stone?”

Caesar looked up at the young man leaning against the door. Of all the people that they could entrust with it, why would they choose Luca? “..This is the key to breaking my curse.”

“That's it? Man, that's boring. I thought it would be something more like true love's kiss.” Well, he was half right.

Caesar smiled, a bit of his playful streak surfacing as he leaned towards Luca. “Well, if you want to try, I certainly wouldn't say no~”

Luca's face went bright red as he sputtered, and Caesar pulled away laughing. For such a flirt, Luca sure did get flustered when someone flirted back with him.

“Oh yeah, laugh it up!” Luca snarled. “Well, at least- at least-” He struggled in vain to try to come up with a proper response. “You talk big for someone who doesn't even realize their roommate is a Goldstein!”

Caesar nearly dropped the Star Sapphire.

* * *

 

Caesar ran through Luca's words as he returned to his room. _'Alfonse Goldstein,'_ he had said, _'the eldest son. Klaus and Elias's brother.'_

He should have suspected it, he supposed; he had seen the tension between him and Klaus, and he had certainly noticed a certain resemblance, but.. It still seemed impossible.

“Oh, Caesar, you're back early! How'd it go?”

Once again, he jumped nearly a foot in the air. There was the man himself. “Oh, hello, Alfonse! Um, what meeting?”

“You said that you were going out to meet Luca. Did everything go all right?”

“Yeah.” Should he say something to Alfonse? “Luca told me-” And he looked into those innocent amethyst eyes as Alfonse tilted his head.

But there was obviously a reason that he hadn't told anyone. Caesar wasn't supposed to know. And though he had so many questions.. _'He'll tell me when he's ready,'_ he thought. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't have his fair share of secrets from Alfonse.

“Luca told me that he thought I could break my curse through true love's kiss!” he blurted out. Isn't that silly?”

“Well, I don't think it's a ridiculous idea,” Alfonse said. “If you like, we could try?”

Alfonse said it so sweetly, smiling so sincerely, that now it was Caesar's turn to go bright red. He covered his face with his hands as he said, “Don't- don't do that.”

* * *

 

 

It had been a spur of the moment decision. Ever since she had started dating Klaus, Liz had been swarmed by paparazzi and reporters, demanding news on him. Some of them had even broken into the school to try to get to her. When he saw that, he was reminded of the way they once treated Elaine.

So, he had taken her out to the harbor, his secret spot, to try to help her calm down. And then the reporters had swarmed on her again- she had looked so afraid-

He couldn't let this happen again, he couldn't let her get hurt like they had hurt Elaine. And so he had blurted out his true identity to the world. “Alfonse Goldstein is back!”

 

But.. now, he had a new problem. Now all of the attention that he had avoided for so long was back on him. The reporters chased after him while he tried to do his research, questioning him about why he left the family, questioning him about Elaine.

And worse than that were the women who tried to cling to him. Now that Klaus was off the market, Alfonse Goldstein was the one that they all desired. He was no longer a Goldstein, he hadn't been a Goldstein for a long time, but it didn't matter to them. They tried to get in pictures with him, clinging to him, when he didn't even know their names.

Alfonse was getting desperate. _'Perhaps,_ ' he thought, _'if I had a partner, they would leave me alone. They'd have to be someone suitable, someone they couldn't contest..'_

* * *

 

Caesar was surprised when Alfonse had shown up at the dorm again. He had been gone for a few days, and the newspapers were running stories on him. It looked like Alfonse Goldstein was finally known to the world.

“Hey, it's been a while,” he said. “It's good to see you again.”

Alfonse shifted his feet. “Caesar, can I talk to you about something? I need.. I need to ask you a favor.” Caesar had never seen him look so serious.

He took a seat on the couch; Alfonse took a seat a moment later. “What do you need?”

“There's something that I need to tell you,” Alfonse said. He took a deep breath and said, “I'm the eldest son of the Goldstein family.”

Caesar should have acted surprised, but something told him that would be a bad idea. “I.. I actually knew that already.”

“What?”

“Luca told me. Kinda blurted it out. But I'm glad that you told me,” Caesar said. Alfonse looked down. “What were you going to ask me?”

“I-I wanted to ask you to date me,” he said.

“What?!”

And Alfonse told him. Alfonse told him all about the women who had tried to be with him for his name, who wouldn't leave him alone. He told him about how this had been a problem before, but now the only way that he could think to stop it was by getting a partner.

“But why me? Surely, you could have your pick of partners from the academy-”

“I trust you,” Alfonse answered, as if it was that easy. “I mean.. After all this time, I don't know you that well,” no, nobody did, he thought, “but I'd like to think of you as a friend.”

Caesar had barely told him anything about himself. As far as Alfonse, or the rest of the academy knew, he was a noble who had come to this academy on his own merit. Of course, the truth wasn't so easy.

“Besides, you have a noble name,” Alfonse explained. “Nobody could contest it if I had a Baroque for a partner.”

“But I'm not..” Caesar didn't know what had possessed him, but, for once in his life, he told the truth. “I'm not a noble anymore. My family fell long ago. All I have is the name.”

Alfonse studied him carefully, but then he smiled. “That will be enough,” he assured. “The people think of you as a noble, and that's enough. Besides, nobility marrying money happens all the time.” He stopped, looking at Caesar seriously. “What do you say? If you don't want, I'll understand-”

Caesar knew that he didn't have that much time left. Even if he had the Star Sapphire, he still had to find his true love, and that would be hard to do if he was attached to someone else. But.. it wasn't like he had a chance of that happening any time soon, did he? Liz was with Klaus, and it had been a long time since he had seen Zett. Now that he was finally here, Zett couldn't come back.

And besides, Alfonse was in trouble. And perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to stand at the side of a noble son.

“All right,” he said at last, “I'll do it.” He smiled. “I'll do my best to live up to your expectations.”

 


	2. In the Public Eye

"Hey, Caesar? Would you come into town with me today?"

He looked up to his roommate. "Huh? Why?"

"Well," Alfonse looked away, "I thought that today could be a good day to introduce you as my boyfriend." It had been a few days since Alfonse had asked for his help, and he had almost forgotten about it. Saying that he would help, of course he would, had been one thing, but to go in public as his boyfriend was another thing.

But it wasn't like he had anything better to do today. "Sure."

* * *

 

As they started to walk together, only then did Caesar think to ask, "So, where are we headed?"

"I needed to pick up a few things for my research," Alfonse explained. "Oh, that's right, didn't you need some materials too? We can pick up those too."

He had almost forgotten about that, in all of his excitement of finding the stone. Well, life would have to go on, he supposed. "Yeah. I needed some-"

And, all at once, he was aware of the eyes on him, of people whispering as they walked by. Alfonse didn't seem to notice, just slipped his arm through his like this was perfectly natural.

And it was. They may not have been the closest, but they were not strangers. They had gone into town to pick up supplies before, discussing this and that, and nobody had paid it any mind, not even them. But Alfonse hadn't been Alfonse Goldstein, the subject of all the gossip, back then, and Caesar hadn't been his boyfriend back then.

Fake boyfriend, he reminded himself. He was just playing a part to protect his friend.

"What did you need?" Alfonse prompted him gently. And he stood up a little straighter as he said what he wanted, and they continued on their way.

They didn't even make it to the shop before they were surrounded by people, many of them beautiful women. Caesar kept his eyes on Alfonse; he was the one he was supposed to be paying attention to.

"Al, who is this handsome man with you? You didn't tell us that you had a friend."

'Have these women ever spoken to him in their life?' Caesar wondered. But he gave his best smile. "I'm Caesar Raphael, Alfonse's boyfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Instantly, surprised murmurs broke out in the crowd. And one of the women said, "Oh, Al, you didn't tell us you had a boyfriend!"

"Well, we wanted to keep it under wraps, you see," Alfonse said sweetly. "We just started dating, after all, so it didn't seem like a good time to bring him into the spotlight."

“What a good boyfriend," the women seemed to murmur. "Aren't they sweet?"

Caesar felt his heart begin to race at all of the attention; he didn't want to stay here. "We really should get going," Caesar said, tugging on Alfonse's arms. "We've got supplies to pick up." Alfonse gave them a smile and bid them farewell, ducking into the shop together.

Scarcely had they made it through the door than did Alfonse burst into laughter. Caesar felt like laughing too, a bit, although his heart was still pounding.

"It's working," Alfonse said with a giant smile. "Did you see the look on their faces? None of them trying to grab at me or get a picture with me. Maybe, finally, they'll leave me alone."

'This must've been bugging him a lot more than I thought,' Caesar thought. "I'm glad I could help."

"Oh, right, we were going to get supplies, weren't we?" Alfonse said once he had calmed down, like nothing had happened. "Let's see if we can find our stuff."

"Right." Caesar started to search for his stuff, but his mind was still abuzz, and he could hardly focus.

* * *

 

"What do you think about stopping to get something to eat?" Alfonse asked once they had finished with their shopping. "I know this great sweetshop nearby, they have the best donuts-"

And, once again, they were aware of the people surrounding them, although there was no longer the playful light in their eyes that there had been before. Caesar felt like he should run.

"You know, I've seen this lovely couple walking around town all day today, and they don't seem very affectionate, do they?"

Caesar pulled himself a little closer to Alfonse, feeling him tense beside him. He had thought that just showing up in town with him would be enough to start the rumors, but, evidently, not enough. And, truth be told, Caesar was usually a lot more affectionate, but, with Alfonse, he was just himself.

Well, there was one way to show that they were serious, but he was hesitant to use it. If he kissed Alfonse, that would show them- but then he'd find himself turned into a pig again, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to reveal himself in front of all of these people.

In his mind, he could already see the headlines. 'Goldstein's boyfriend turns into a pig!' Plus, he'd have to deal with all of the jokes all over again.

He looked to Alfonse again, who was already starting to tense. If this fell apart, Alfonse would be all alone again, wouldn't it?

So he put on his best smile. "Alfonse," he said quietly, "will you kiss me?" He caught on, and Alfonse pulled him into a kiss.

He thought that it would be strange, kissing his friend, but it felt.. natural. It reminded him of his first kiss, back when he lived on the streets, back when it was just him and-

Pop!

Okay, he thought, he could stand it without the turning into the pig part though.

"Did you see that?!" the voices whispered. "Did that man just turn into a pig?"

He wanted to run away; hiding under his covers seemed like a very good option right about now. But he felt arms lift him up, and he looked into Alfonse's amethyst eyes.

And then Alfonse pressed a kiss to his nose, and he was back in his human form. He stood a little straighter, slipping his arm back through Alfonse's.

"That's right," Alfonse said proudly. "He is none other than Caesar Raphael, the heir of the Baroque bloodline." He had to admit, his heart was racing as he heard Alfonse announce him. The whispers started again, but Alfonse turned and lead him away.

Well, he thought, I've played my part. For better or for worse, I'm now going to be known as Alfonse's boyfriend.

And, for some reason, he couldn't find a reason to object.

* * *

 

The next day, as he was leaving the dorms, he found someone waiting for him. "There you are. I was hoping to speak with you, Caesar."

He'd never had a problem talking to Klaus before. Sure, the blonde former Prefect could be a little scary at times, but he had a good heart. Except, of course, when it had come to Alfonse; even he had noticed the iciness between them.

'Now I suppose I know why.'

"What can I do for you?" he asked, meeting Klaus's eyes squarely.

"I've heard that you're dating Alfonse," he said; of course this would be about him. "Is that true?"

"Yes," Caesar said without hesitation. If Alfonse hadn't even told Klaus about their fake dating, then he wasn't going to be the one to tell him. "This whole thing's been quite unexpected, but I've fallen for him."

Klaus sighed. "You're a good man, Caesar. You're strong, and you're a good Prefect." Would it be impolite to laugh in Klaus's face? Cause he felt like he was about to. "I know that you and Alfonse are close, but you must not continue down this path. You're only going to get hurt if you stay with him."

Were they talking about the same person? Sweet, gentle Alfonse couldn't hurt a fly. "Are you sure, Klaus? That doesn't sound like the Alfonse I know. If you stay with him, you will get hurt."

Klaus's expression turned dark. "You don't know him as well as I do. You've only known him for a few months, and.. I've watched him since we were children, and he turned his back on us."

He had a point. It felt like he had known Alfonse forever- come to think of it, he couldn't even remember the first time that they'd met- but it had only been a couple months, in truth, since he had returned from Hinomoto.

But none of this really mattered, did it? Alfonse wasn't going to break his heart, because they weren't actually a couple. He was just doing a friend a favor.

"Thank you for the concern, Klaus," he said smoothly, "but I think I'll be fine. Please try not to worry about me." Klaus scoffed, but he let him pass. He heard Klaus say something to himself, but he tried not to think about what it was.

Still, he found that he couldn't take his mind off of Klaus's warning. 'Alfonse is going to hurt me?' he thought. 'Surely, he wouldn't do that.'

* * *

 

Meanwhile, somebody else was celebrating upon hearing the news.

"I can't believe that you and Caesar are dating! I didn't even know the two of you were dating!"

Alfonse smiled at Liz's exuberance. Liz had offered to take him out to lunch as soon as she heard, but he had a feeling that it was more to ask questions than out of hunger.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. We wanted to keep it under wraps under the time was right, and, well, now the time is right. I'm sure you understand, dating Klaus and all that."

"Hmm?" she said, tilting her head, and then she nodded quickly, a little nervously. "Oh, right, right. Yeah, you know how awful all the media attention can get, so Klaus and I wanted to keep it under wraps as well." She smiled brightly. "Although, now all of the attention has been off of us, cause everyone's been talking about you and Caesar."

"I'm sure that that must've been a giant relief for you," Alfonse said with a smile. Liz was a nice girl; if there was something good to come out of all of this, it was that she wouldn't have to carry the burden alone. "You seem a lot happier now."

"So do you!" she said, and his eyes widened. "I always thought that you and Caesar would be cute together, but now, seeing you together, I know it. There's a certain light in your eyes now, and you're smiling a lot more."

"Huh?" Alfonse tried to hide his shock, but he wasn't doing a very good idea. Of course he would be happier; the fangirls had been starting to leave him alone since they thought that he was taken.

He wasn't in love with Caesar, he thought. He'd chosen him because he was a good friend that he could trust. But.. he had to admit, spending time with Caesar the last few days hadn't been bad at all. He had been afraid that he was asking too much, but Caesar was with him every step, announcing himself as his boyfriend. He had even kissed him in front of the others, despite knowing that he'd be revealing his secret.

'He's been so wonderful through all of this,' he thought. 'I should get him something to thank him for everything that he's done.'

"That distant look in your eye.. You're thinking about him right now, aren't you?"

Alfonse caught himself, but he nodded. After all, it hadn't really been a lie. "What can I say? He's very special to me," he said carefully, and Liz laughed at that.

"Well, I think the two of you will be wonderful together! I wish you two nothing but the best!"

"Thank you, Liz. And I wish the best for you and my brother!" he added. "Take care of him, will you?"

"Oh, of course!" Liz said. Alfonse missed her nervous laughter.

 


	3. Opening the Doors

Over the next few days, Caesar got used to going out with Alfonse into town. They had gone out together quite a bit before, without even thinking about it, so it was like getting back into their regular routine. The only difference was that there were a lot more people looking at them now.

And, occasionally, they wanted interviews.

"Mr. Goldstein, you said that you would answer any questions we had! Time to make good on that promise!"

"I did promise that, didn't I?" Alfonse muttered to himself; he looked over at Caesar, but Caesar gave him a smile.

"I don't mind," he said quietly; he had a part to play, and he wouldn't fail Alfonse. Finally, Alfonse nodded.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

They felt their head spinning as about a dozen different questions were thrown at them at the same time, but Caesar tried to focus on one of them. "How did the two of you meet?"

The truth was that he couldn't even remember; it seemed like Alfonse had always been by his side. Caesar put on his best smile and explained, "Well, we are both Prefects at the Academy. Naturally, our paths would cross quite a bit. I suppose that it would only be natural that we'd fall for each other."

"Mr. Baroque," he didn't even bother to correct them, "how do you feel knowing that your boyfriend once had a fiance? Aren't you afraid that he's going to break your heart like he did hers?"

Oh. Alfonse had never mentioned that he'd had a fiance before.

Was that what Klaus had meant? 'He's only going to break your heart?'

But he raised his chin, giving his best smile. "It doesn't matter to me what happened in his past," Caesar said. "What matters is that he's by my side now."

"Mr. Alfonse, you must be glad that you found a boyfriend from such a prestigious family!" Once again, Caesar reminded himself that it would have been rude to laugh at that. "How do you feel about your brother dating a woman of common birth?"

"I don't believe there's anything wrong with that," Alfonse said sharply. "It's important to be with the ones that you love, and I'm glad that he's found someone he truly cares about. They've supported each other through a lot. I am only fortunate that I could find someone who supports me as well." Without thinking, Alfonse squeezed Caesar's hands, and he held on tight.

'I'm here for you,' he thought. 'You don't have to be alone.'

"Yeah, it's unfortunate about your boyfriend's curse though, isn't it?" another reporter said, and it was his turn to stiffen. "The heirs of two noble families.. You could have been a perfect match if it hadn't been for that."

"Mr. Baroque, we have heard rumors that you aren't from-"

"This interview is over," Alfonse said, his voice suddenly hard and cold; Caesar had only heard his voice like that a few times. "Let us be on our way; we have work to do." Surprisingly, the reporters let them go. Alfonse swept past them, gently pulling Caesar along with him.

He thought that he could have handled the interview, but it had turned out badly. But more than ever, he found himself realizing just how little he knew about his boyfriend. And just how little Alfonse knew about him.

* * *

 

He told himself that he wasn't going to ask; it wasn't his business, after all. But he did anyway. As soon as they got back to the dorms, he blurted out, "Is it true that you had a fiance?"

Alfonse sighed as he took a seat; Caesar sat down with him. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before this came up. Not quite how I wanted you to find out." He nodded at last. "Yes. When I was younger, I was engaged to the daughter of a noble family, but I.. I messed things up, and we broke up. My family was counting on me to make a good match, but I messed up. After that, I left the family to focus on my studies, and I was disowned all but officially."

"Your family disowned you just for that?" Alfonse wouldn't meet his eyes; Caesar waited for him to explain, but, when he didn't, he let it go. After all, he had more than his fair share of secrets himself; was it fair to demand all of Alfonse's answers while keeping his own so closely guarded?

If they were going to be together in this, it was only fair for both of them to be honest with each other. And Alfonse had already been honest with him, so now it was his turn. "I'll make you a deal." Alfonse tilted his head. "It's clear that there's still a lot that we have to learn about each other. For every question of mine that you answer, you can ask me anything."

It was a risky maneuver. What if Alfonse asked him about how he had come to the academy? But.. he didn't just want to dodge his questions all the time and put the burden on him. 'Maybe this'll be good for us.'

"All right," Alfonse said at last. "I have to admit, I'm a little curious about you too."

"Then ask away."

* * *

 

As Caesar made his offer, Alfonse was becoming aware of how little he knew about Caesar. He considered him a close friend, they had worked together on a lot of stuff over the past few months, but he didn't know anything about him besides his curse. Up until that fateful day when he had asked for his help, he had naturally assumed that he was from a noble family like him. He wasn't even sure where to start asking.

"You said before that you weren't a noble anymore. Your family fell?"

Caesar nodded. "They did. My family was nobility in the Daylight Kingdom, but our curse took its toll on them. By the time that my parents were born, we.. we grew up in the Forgotten City. I myself was born and raised there."

The Forgotten City. Alfonse had been there many times to help out with the sick; he had dreamed of running a clinic there, and he had been planning to pay a visit there to choose a location before everything happened. But never had he imagined that his cheerful friend would have grown up there.

When he still lived with his family, he had often dreamed of what it would be like to live a simple life. And, yes, he had even found himself envying the people of the city for their freedom, for the simplicity of their lives. They could make their own choices; they didn't have to worry about carrying the burden of their entire bloodline on their shoulders or messing everything up with a single choice, with a few words.

But perhaps he was oversimplifying it. Now he was seeing the pain in Caesar's eyes as he talked about his life before coming to the academy- of course it wasn't. Those people lived hard lives, struggling even to survive, and Caesar was no exception.

"I can't imagine what that must have been like," he said quietly. "It must've been very difficult; I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

"It's all right," Caesar reassured him gently. "That is far behind me. Since I've come to the academy, I've been able to do a lot better for myself." He gave a bitter smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Caesar's smiles never did. "After all, I became a Prefect, didn't I?"

Alfonse didn't know what compelled him to say it, but he said, "I.. I've actually been planning to pay a visit to the Forgotten City. I wanted to set up a clinic there. I wanted to go there at some point, but then everything happened."

Caesar was quiet for a while. "Next time that you go there, why don't I come with you?" he said at last. "After all, you're going to need someone to show you around."

"I would appreciate that," he said sincerely. There was still more that he wanted to ask, but he decided that it was enough for the night. He realized that it was getting quite late. "Let's stop this here for tonight. We should head to the dining hall; it's about time for dinner, isn't it?"

"That sounds nice." With that, the two of them got up and left to go get dinner.

So each of them still had mysteries surrounding them; in a way, they were still strangers to each other. But the doors between them were opening for the first time, and they weren't going to be closed so easily.

 

A few days later, Alfonse called for him again. "I was thinking of heading out to the Forgotten City today. If you wanted to come with me-"

It had been a long time since Caesar had been back to the city. "Of course."

 

Alfonse was talking about something, but Caesar's mind was a million miles away as they walked through the city. In his mind's eye, he could see two young boys, their hair and clothes a mess, dodging through the city streets, in the time when it had just been the two of them. Later, others had come, and they'd had no choice but to take care of the children. 'Royalty of a kingdom of street rats.'

He had come a long way from those days ever since he entered the academy. Now, he never hungered; would the people here recognize him?

"-What do you think?"

Alfonse was looking at him expectantly, and he snapped up. Crap, he hadn't been paying attention at all. "Sorry, I was.. thinking. What were you asking?"

"I was thinking this would be a good place to put the clinic," Alfonse said; he didn't seem to mind that Caesar hadn't been paying attention. "What do you think?"

This had been right near his home, in the little corner of town. If there had been a clinic here when he was growing up, he thought, his mother might have been healed. He didn't even know why he was thinking that; it had been a long time since he had thought of what might have beens.

"I think that would be a good place for it. You can help a lot of people there."

"This place must bring back a lot of memories for you, huh?" Alfonse asked; Caesar nodded.

"My house was right around here," he said, walking around, looking at the houses. "I remember.. I used to play in the streets around here with my friend."

His heart clenched as he thought of Zett. They'd always been a team; eventually, he had planned to bring him to this place to help him break his curse. Everything they had done had been working towards the goal of finding the Star Sapphire, and then it had just been casually handed to him after all of that.

"They sound like they're very special to you," Alfonse said.

"He was," Caesar said. He felt the Star Sapphire in his pocket; he carried it with him everywhere, just in case. Once upon a time, he had even believed that Zett would be his true love; now, he couldn't picture his true love's face. "It's been a long time since I've seen him though. I don't know what's become of him. Or what he'd think of me when he sees me again."

* * *

 

They came back to the city a few times over the next few days to help set up Alfonse's clinic. Alfonse always told him that he didn't have to come with him if he didn't want to, but he always did, even if there was nothing that he could do to help.

Caesar made sure to bring some coins with him on their following trips, slipping them to the beggars as he walked by. Alfonse didn't ask; after that trip, he started doing the same.

When they were here, they didn't have to worry about the paparazzi bugging them or the nobility trying to flirt with either of them, but they were still recognized all the same.

"Caesar, is that you?"

It had been years since he had seen them, but he still recognized them at once. Once, he had lead them. Had he been with anybody else, he might've turned away, pretended that he had never been in this city before, but when he was with Alfonse..

"Yeah," he said. "It's me. It's been a long time; it's good to see you again."

"It looks like you've done pretty well for yourself; I don't think I've ever see you without the dirt on your face. You made it out of the city?"

"Yeah, I'm living at the Academy now." He jerked his head to the castle on the hill that had once seemed so unobtainable. "I'm a Prefect there; they treat me pretty well."

"And the pretty boy with you?" he asked, peeking over his shoulder.

"That's Alfonse, my boyfriend," he said; he didn't even think about it until he saw Alfonse's face light up bright red and he looked away. "This is one of my old friends."

"Well, I suppose I should be letting you get back to your date," he said with a wink. "But don't forget about us when you get back to your castle, will you?"

"Don't worry," Caesar said. "I won't."

* * *

 

Alfonse was quiet until they went back to their dorm. And then he finally said, "You.. you didn't have to do that, you know."

"Do what?"

"Nobody knew us there; there was no paparazzi or noblewomen. You didn't have to introduce me as your boyfriend."

Oh. Right. He had just gotten so used to saying it that it had kinda slipped out. "I guess I didn't. Just got used to it, you know?"

Alfonse nodded. He still wouldn't meet his eyes. "You told me before that was how you lived, but to see it for myself, to see your home.."

That was probably the most that he'd ever shared about himself with anyone, he realized, but it felt so natural because it was Alfonse. "It's no big deal. I don't mind sharing that part of myself with you."

"But you did; you shared a major part of yourself with me, and so.." Alfonse took a deep breath, meeting his eyes. "I ran away."

It seemed like a major non-sequitur. "I-I beg your pardon?"

"That's why Klaus.. that's why he hates me." Alfonse sat down as he explained his story, "After everything went down with Elaine, I felt that I disappointed my family. So, in the middle of the night one night, I ran away from home, and I didn't look back."

Caesar took a seat. He wasn't sure what to say to that, but he knew that Alfonse needed to get this off his chest. "All right, tell me about it. I'm here to listen."

Caesar listened as Alfonse told him his story, told him of how he had joined the Ministry caravan, how Walter had searched for him.

"Klaus was furious when he saw me again," he said. "He told me that I was not his brother anymore, and I don't blame him. And.. I can't even face Elias anymore."

So this was what Klaus had been talking about, his warning. And he could see how the worry that he had felt could turn into anger, why he wouldn't want to see him again.

But was this going to change anything between them? Even with what Alfonse had done, Caesar thought, did he have any right to judge after all that he had done to get here? "I see," he said quietly. "I'm glad that you told me this, that you shared this part of yourself with me."

"And I'm glad that you trusted me to show me that part of yourself," Alfonse said. "We're even now, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Caesar said. "All things even now."

And, truth be told, it was nice to hear Alfonse's story. Perhaps this opening up stuff, he thought, wasn't so bad after all.

 


	4. Could Be

That night, Caesar dreamed of Alfonse, of a day like any other. They visited the Forgotten City, helping the people there as they had done before.

Two long-haired boys whirled around their legs, pulling at their clothes. "Mr. Alfonse, I see the two of you together a lot. Are you boyfriends?" one of them asked.

"Well, he's something like that," Alfonse said with a smile. Caesar's heart swelled as he saw that smile; was this how Alfonse had felt when he had casually said it? "But he's very important to me all the same."

Caesar reached out and took Alfonse's hand; it felt as natural as could be.

They continued walking through the city, hand in hand, as they heard the two boys talking behind them. It was a beautiful day outside.

"Well, I think that we should head back for today," Alfonse said. Suddenly, he looked up, feeling something on his nose. Caesar looked up, seeing that it was starting to snow. Neither of them were dressed for the weather, but he found that he wasn't cold. "Look, isn't it pretty?"

Caesar looked at the wonder in Alfonse's eyes, and he nodded. "It's quite pretty."

"It would be good to take the slow way back," he said. "That way, we can enjoy the snow together."

The snow grew heavier as they walked, covering everything in a fine line of white, the drops gathering in their hair. Caesar found that he couldn't tear his eyes away from him.

Once they got back to the dorms, Alfonse asked, "What would you like to do now?"

"What do you mean?" he asked. He wasn't sure what was going on, but the truth was that he wasn't entirely opposed to this. Spending the day with Alfonse, walking in the snow..

"Well, we're on a date, aren't we? I decided where we went to lunch, so I figured that you'd get to decide what we do next."

Caesar searched his mind for something that might be fun to do; he remembered some board games he had in his closet. "How about a game?" he asked. It had been a long time since he had played a board game; these had merely been gifts from the other Prefects. He selected one at random, setting it down on the floor.

"Oh, I used to play this game with my brothers all the time!" Alfonse said happily.

"Good, cause it's been quite a while since I've played," Caesar said sheepishly. "Do you think that you could teach me how to play?"

"Sure."

Playing a board game with Alfonse, watching the snow outside, it was all so simple, so.. domestic. They didn't have to do this, it wasn't part of their fake dating. If he hadn't, nobody would know. But he found that he didn't mind it.

'If I were to fall for Alfonse,' he thought, 'would it really be so bad?'

* * *

 

Caesar woke up with a start, grasping for his bearings. He reached out for the Star Sapphire, still in his pocket, clutching it to try to clear his mind.

That date with Alfonse had just been a dream. 'I'm not dating Alfonse,' he thought. 'I'm not his; I'm just pretending to be so people will leave him alone. That's right.

When all this is over..' And this would blow over pretty soon. The reporters were leaving them alone each day, the news was moving on from the Goldsteins. 'I'll fall for somebody else.' He squeezed the Star Sapphire, feeling the darkness on his back.

The more time he spent with Alfonse, the less time that he had to spend finding his true love, and he was already cutting it pretty close. He could feel it closing in on him.

He had already kissed Alfonse, a few times, for the Paparazzi, and yet he was still turning into a pig. No matter how pleasant the dreams might be, Alfonse Goldstein was not his true love. ..Was he?

'I have to.'

 

When he stepped out of his room, he found a strange sight. Alfonse was at the stove, cooking something.

"..What are you doing?"

"Oh, Caesar, I didn't expect that you'd be up yet!" Alfonse said, a little sheepishly. "I was just making breakfast for us. Please, have a seat."

Caesar took a seat at the table, but he kept his eyes on Alfonse. Normally, he made breakfast for himself, he was used to it after a lifetime of fending for himself and the other children, so he wasn't quite sure what to do. "What prompted this?" he asked.

"Well, I wanted to thank you for all of your help lately," he explained, keeping his eyes focused on the stove. "I've been asking you for a lot lately, but you've been helping me with every step, no matter what I've asked you to do. So I thought that I'd cook us breakfast."

Caesar couldn't help but tease a little. "You're not cooking bacon, are you?"

Alfonse jumped, his face bright red as he turned back to look at Caesar. "N-no, of course not! I wouldn't do that to you!"

"I know," he said. "I'm sure that whatever you make will be really good. I appreciate it." Alfonse looked away, and Caesar tilted his head. "Alfonse, the eggs?"

"Oh, right!"

 

The eggs were a little burnt, but Caesar appreciated it all the same. "Thank you, Alfonse."

"It's not a problem," he said. And as they ate together, he was reminded of his dream. Could it be like this all the time, just the two of them living in peace?

'Perhaps it's not as I thought,' he found himself thinking. 'Perhaps I have to do something different-'

"Caesar? What are you thinking about?"

He wondered if he should tell him. Would Alfonse just laugh at him? No, Alfonse wasn't the kind of person to do that. "It's kind of funny, actually. I dreamed about you last night." He put on his most confidant voice, "I dreamed that we were out on a date. It was snowing, and then we played board games."

"What a coincidence," Alfonse said. "I dreamed about you too." Alfonse wasn't seeing that Caesar's face was turning red. "I dreamed that we were walking through a crystal cavern; you were pointing out what each one was to me."

He thought that Alfonse would see it as a joke, but to hear something like that.. Caesar found himself fighting down a blush. "That sounds like a pretty cool dream."

"Oh, there was something else that I wanted to tell you! I think I'll be able to open the clinic in a few days, we just need to finish preparations. Will you come with me?"

"Sure."

 

They had done little pieces day by day, but it was still a surprise to see the clinic all fully set up and furnished. It was still a simple place, but he could help a lot of people there.

"What do you think?"

"I think it looks amazing," he said. "This will be a great help to the people here. If this had been here when my mother was.." His words caught in his throat, and Alfonse placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't need to finish the thought. He cleared his throat. "I guess that this means that you don't always need me there to stand by your side, if you're working here."

'Is this going to end soon?'

"Oh, right. Well, you can still come and visit me when I'm working here; I could use an assistant." He normally couldn't picture himself as a doctor's assistant, but if it was Alfonse-

"Sure, I could do that." He could entertain this for a little while longer.

* * *

 

"See now? It wasn't so bad. Here, you can have some candy."

Alfonse smiled as we watched Caesar talk to the children; he had an easy way with them. He hadn't expected it to be such a busy day, but Caesar had gone right along with it and helped with everything.

And he found himself thinking of his dream again. He remembered how Caesar had looked in the light of the crystals, smiling as he explained what each of the crystals were.

'If this could last,' he thought, 'would that be all right?' He found himself wondering what it would be like to ask Caesar out for real. Would he laugh at him, or would he accept him? Caesar hadn't seemed too unhappy when they were having breakfast that morning; he had been the one to call him his boyfriend without prompting.

"Caesar," he started to call out, but he froze when Caesar looked back at him. He couldn't ask him yet, not in front of all of these people. "When we get back to the dorm, there's something that I want to ask you."

"All right."

 

They didn't even make it back to the dorms when Liz caught them.

"Oh, good! We were just looking for the two of you. There's been an emergency, and the Headmaster has asked all of the Prefects to come to his office."

They looked at each other, and Alfonse saw something in Caesar's expression that he couldn't place. Fear? "Let's go."

 

Alfonse spotted Zeus and Hiro once they got to the office.

"Headmaster, what's the situation?"

"The king of illegal deals has been spotted in the city," Headmaster Rembrandt explained. "The Ministry is out searching for him, but I want the five of you to pursue him."

Alfonse felt Caesar stiffen beside him, but he didn't say anything. "Yes, sir," Caesar said, and they were on their way.

 

They barely made it into the city before they found him, a young man with dark brown hair and tattoos across his arms. But the young man only had eyes for Caesar.

"I heard that you finally found your prize, old friend; I had to come and see for myself."

Alfonse's gaze shifted to Caesar. His expression was passive, showing no emotion at all, but he was as still as a stone.

"The Ministry is looking for you, Zett," Caesar said. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be; come quietly, and this'll be easier on all of us."

"Oh, I suppose that I should," the man, Zett, said. "What do I have to fight for now? We were always a team, old friend, but you've chosen your new friends, your new life, over me. Is the street too good for you anymore, now that you've found your prince and your castle?"

This wasn't making sense. This man was a criminal; how could he have known Caesar? And why were they addressing each other like that? Like they were friends? Like they were partners?

"Caesar," he asked, and he could not stop his voice from shaking, "what's going on?"

Caesar gave a bitter smile. "Alfonse, do you remember that talk we had in the Forgotten City? About the friend that I had to leave behind?" The one who might've been his true love? "It looks like he's found me again."

* * *

 

"Why don't you tell them, Caesar?" Zett snarled, and Caesar couldn't blame him. "Why don't you tell them the reason that you came to this academy in the first place? The Prince and the King, have you told them nothing of that?"

“He's lying," Liz said. "He's just trying to get a rise out of us. There's no way that Caesar could be affiliated with someone like that."

Oh, it would have been easy to lie once more; it would have been easy to turn his back on Zett as he had done before in order to make his own life easier. He had found the Star Sapphire, and he could find his true love here. He would never hunger here; he was respected here.

And.. he had Alfonse. Alfonse was counting on him to help him; what would become of his reputation if it turned out that he was dating a criminal?

But, when he looked back at Alfonse, his eyes begging him to refute it, for it not to be true. But Alfonse knew, didn't he? If he turned away, would Alfonse ever trust him again? Or any of them? He could lie all he wanted, but they would carry that doubt always whenever he looked at them.

"No," he said at last, "Zett is telling the truth. He is a criminal- and I was once his partner."

 


	5. The Prince and the King

He went down to the holding cells, but there was somebody already blocking his path, perhaps the last person in the world that he wanted to see right now.

"Klaus," he said, forcing his voice to be calm, "let me by; I have to see Caesar."

"He is a criminal; he admitted to it himself, in front of everyone. And you choose to go to him anyway?"

"Yes; he is important to me, and I need to know the truth," he said, trying to force himself to stay calm. "I know that you have your duty to the Ministry, and I appreciate it, but I have my duty to him."

"There's a lot of things that you've done, Alfonse, but this is something entirely different," he snarled. "You've been trying to take back the Goldstein name-"

"No, I haven't. I didn't want it back, I never asked for any of that attention," he answered. He had started dating Caesar so they would leave him alone. He hadn't asked to be Alfonse Goldstein again, but everyone else just assumed he did.

"And yet you'd bring shame to it by associating with him?"

"I'm trying to do what's right for once!" Alfonse said. "You're always accusing me of abandoning my family, and maybe I did, and now you're just going to ask me to abandon my own fiance before I even know the whole story?"

"Fiance?"

He had blurted it out without thinking, and now he saw Klaus staring at him. It was rare to see Klaus taken off guard.

"Yes, he is my fiance," he lied smoothly. "We weren't going to tell anyone about it, but then all of this happened. That's why I need to get to see him." He raised his chin, meeting Klaus's eyes directly. "It may be too late for me to make up with you or Elias," as much as he wanted to, "but this I can fix. Step out of my way."

Klaus didn't say a word, moving out of the path, and Alfonse went past him. But, as he was hurrying by, he felt that there was still something that he had to say. "You know," he said, turning back, "he was your friend too. Are you just going to abandon him too?"

* * *

 

"Well, I have to say, I wasn't expecting that."

After so many years, the King and the Prince were together again; shame it had to be in prison cells. But this is where they always expected to end up, wasn't it?

Caesar gave a bitter smile as he leaned against the prison wall; he couldn't see Zett's face on the other side, but he could still imagine the smile in return. "Well, I couldn't abandon you. Not again."

"I really thought that you would," Zett said quietly. "You had a good life here, from what I heard. You didn't have to worry about a thing while you were at the academy; you made it. Not to mention, I couldn't go a day without hearing about you and your prince."

To think that the story of him and Alfonse had made it that wide.. And now his heart ached as he thought of Alfonse. He was a criminal now, so he knew that was all over now.

'Nobody's going to want to have anything to do with me now that I'm a criminal, let alone the heir of the Goldsteins.'

"It was nice while it lasted," he finally said. "For a moment, I believed that he could've been the one to break my curse." How many days did he have left? It wasn't much time to search, but he didn't care anymore.

"The way that you're talking.. I heard that they found it. The Star Sapphire."

"We did." They had taken the Star Sapphire from him when he was arrested; it was too important to let a common criminal have. "I wish that you could've seen it." But perhaps that wasn't the greatest prize that was gone now, he thought.

"Let us through!"

He looked up at the voices, and he saw him in the doorway, coming to his cell. "Alfonse, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," Alfonse said. "I'm not quite sure what's going on, but I needed to see you again. I wanted to know the truth."

Caesar's heart clenched. Alfonse had come back for him, but was it for good or for bad? "I think that you deserve that."

"Don't worry," Zett murmured through the wall, "I think that he'll understand."

"I.. I wasn't just a street urchin; I was a criminal. Living on the streets, Zett and I had to fight for survival; we had to steal to live, to support the ones who followed us."

And so he finally told Alfonse everything. He told him about growing up on the streets, even about the circus. He told him about how he had cheated his way into the academy to find the Star Sapphire, that it could break his curse.

"A-and if you didn't?"

Dare he tell him? It would be so easy to brush off his worries, to pretend that it had all been all right, that it would just be an eternity of turning back and forth from a pig to human and vise versa. It would be easy too to say that it was just the Star Sapphire that he needed.

"It wouldn't be death, but it would be pretty close." He looked away; he couldn't stand to see Alfonse's face, his pity. It was something that he knew all too well.

"I wish that I could've done more for you," Alfonse said. "I wish that I could've helped you."

"It doesn't matter now," Caesar said. "Without the Star Sapphire, it's useless anyway."

"It's a good thing that we have it then," a voice said. His heart almost stopped as he saw Klaus standing in the doorway, the Star Sapphire in his hand. He would've thought it lost by now. His mask of perfect control was back in place, but it almost seemed like he had been shaken. He didn't know what had changed in the hours that he had been locked away, but he supposed that was between the brothers. "We're going to get you out of here, Caesar."

"How?" he asked.

"You'd be surprised what the Goldstein name can do," Klaus said. "Finding the Star Sapphire has given us a lot of respect, and you stand as the fiance of one of us."

Fiance? When he glanced at Alfonse, he noticed the pink tinge in his face, and he decided to go along with it.

If Alfonse wasn't going to abandon him, then he wasn't going to turn away either. He didn't quite know what this was, right now, but he didn't want to question it.

'As long as I can be,' he thought suddenly, 'I'll stay by your side.'

"Thank you."

 

The next day, Headmaster Rembrandt came back to him, giving his usual serene smile. "Well, Caesar, it looks like you're free to go."

Caesar bolted up in his seat. "Are you serious? How?"

"Well, you had a lot of people supporting you," the Headmaster said, and he saw the others coming into the prison. Zeus and Hiro, Liz, Alfonse, even Klaus was there.

"You sure have a lot of explaining to do when you get out of here!" Zeus demanded. "But we had to get you out of here first."

The door swung open, and Caesar stepped out. And he cast a glimpse into the other cell, where he saw that Zett was smiling at him.

"Unfortunately, there wasn't much that we could do for you," Rembrandt said, "as you are not one of my students."

"Zett-"

"Don't worry," he said, "I'll be fine. Go ahead and be with your prince; that's the best thing thing that you could do for me."

"Thank you, Zett."

Alfonse smiled as Caesar came to stand beside him, taking his hand in his own. They smiled at each other, and then-

"Of course, Caesar," the Headmaster said, "we'll still need to talk about your punishment for cheating your way into the Academy. You'll still be able to be a Prefect, but there will be many more duties for you."

"Yes, Headmaster," he said, looking away, "of course."

 


	6. Double Date

"Are you sure? I could help you-"

"Alfonse, please, you got me out of prison, it's the least that I can do for you," Caesar said; it was his turn to cook breakfast for his fiance.

"But aren't you sore?" Caesar started to shake his head, but then he nodded. As his punishment, Headmaster Rembrandt had made him clean the front gates of the school without magic. And then he'd have to give explanations to all of his friends, repeating the same stuff that he had told Alfonse.

"A little," he said at last. "But I still wanted to do something for all of your help."

He finished cooking, setting down the plates. Alfonse immediately dug into his food. "This is amazing!"

"Well, when you're in charge of taking care of a bunch of children, you learn how to cook," he said.

"I never thought about it like that. I learned a little bit when I was traveling with the Ministry, but I mainly bought my lunch a lot of the times," Alfonse admittedly sheepishly. "I could get used to you cooking my meals though~"

Once again, his face was red. You'd think that after all of this time that they'd been together, he would get used to Alfonse's innocent flirting, but he always said it so sweetly and so earnestly, he couldn't help but blush.

But perhaps he could get back a little bit. "Well, apparently, you're my fiance, so you just might get the chance."

Now it was Alfonse's turn to look away. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I was trying to get past Klaus to you, and I kinda blurted out that you were my fiance."

"Even after everything, you still want me to stand by your side?" he asked. "They're not going to think of me as the honored noble son of the Baroque family; I'm going to be seen as the common criminal. Are you sure that you want that?"

"Caesar, there is nobody else that I would rather stand by my side," Alfonse said, taking his hand. "You're not exactly a normal noble, but neither am I, am I?" Caesar shook his head. "So I'd like to ask you to.."

What was the end to that sentence? 'Continue fake dating me?' No, it didn't seem to fit. If he asked him out now, would he agree? After everything, would he just turn him away? Cause that would be really embarrassing; he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

"Oh, that reminds me," Caesar suddenly spoke up. "Liz invited us out to dinner tonight. A double date, actually; she said that she wanted to celebrate our engagement."

Alfonse had never been on a double date before. "A double date with Liz and Klaus?" It was hard to believe that Klaus would agree to that, not after everything they had been through. But perhaps this meant that he was willing to reach out again. "That sounds fun."

"Oh, sorry, what were you going to ask me?" Caesar asked, but Alfonse shook his head.

Perhaps, in time, he would have the courage to ask, but, for now, he could be content with this. For now, with just the two of them, it was enough.

 

Alfonse nervously adjusted his jacket as he waited outside the restaurant for the others to show up. It had been a while since he had been to a place this fancy, not since before he had left, but the others had insisted.

"Your hair's a mess," he heard a voice say, and he felt gentle hands trying to smooth out his hair. He looked up to see Klaus fussing with his hair.

"Klaus, you're here," he said. He hadn't had much chance to speak with his brother since they had fought over Caesar; sure, they had argued with the Ministry, but they had scarcely had a moment alone. Now that they were, he didn't know what to say. "Thanks for inviting me out."

"Hmm." Klaus lowered his hands, folding his arms across his chest. "It was Liz's idea; she's very happy for you, you know. But I figured that it wasn't a bad idea for you to come. It might help your clinic, after all."

"You knew about that?" Alfonse asked. He hadn't told very many people about it, only Caesar and Liz; he didn't think that Klaus would know, would care.

"Liz may have mentioned it," Klaus said, pointedly refusing to look at him. Alfonse let it go.

Suddenly, he heard Liz say, "We're here! Sorry that it took so long, we had to dodge the paparazzi again!" A chill ran up Alfonse's spine. It seemed like even now, they couldn't let go of them. Just when he thought that he could live a peaceful life-

"There they are!" And suddenly there were lights flashing in their face, reporters asking them a million questions at a time; it was hard for Alfonse to even make out what they were saying, but he put his attention to the others.

"Get inside," he said quietly, "we'll meet you in there." They somehow managed to hear him over the roar, because Klaus and Liz bolted inside, and then it was just the two of them left.

"Sir Alfonse," one of the reporters cried, "how do you feel knowing that your boyfriend is a common criminal? Are you still planning to date him?"

They were just trying to get on his nerves, just trying to get a rise out of him, so he shouldn't have responded. But, in any case, it worked. He stood tall and glared at the reporter. "Caesar is my fiance, and you will not speak of him in this way," he said, instantly sending murmurs through the crowd. "Regardless of where he came from, if I hear any slander about him, you will have to answer to me. Now I ask that you leave us alone so that we may be able to enjoy our dinner together in peace."

The reporters took a step back, and they were allowed to pass through the crowd to get to the restaurant. Alfonse glanced over at Caesar and noticed that he had turned as pink as his hair. "What?"

"I-I don't think that I'll ever be able to get used to this," Caesar said. "Being protected by you or being called your fiance." Oh. Oh. He hadn't even really thought about it, he had just acted, knowing that he wasn't going to let them slander Caesar. "I mean, it's fine, just gonna take some getting used to." Alfonse nodded. "Well, they're waiting for us, we should find our table."

 

Caesar watched in amusement at the couple sitting across from him, talking animatedly.

"It was quite scary, being surrounded by all those reporters," Liz said. "It reminded me of when we started dating, and they wouldn't leave us alone."

"Next time, let me know if they're bothering you," Klaus said gently. "I will make sure that they leave you alone. You don't deserve to have to deal with all that trouble for my sake."

She shook her head. "No, no, it's all right! I'm the one who wanted to-" She glanced over at Alfonse and Caesar as if realizing that they were there for the first time. "I'm the one who asked you out, remember? Besides, I'll be attending a lot more functions at your side from now on. After all, there are wedding bells in the future, aren't there?" She inclined her head towards the pair.

"Yes, I have to admit, that was a bit of a surprise, but I doubt that anyone would question your commitment to each other after everything. And commitment.. That's something that I didn't think that Alfonse could do anymore."

"Klaus," Alfonse said quietly, but he just shook his head.

"Like you're one to talk about sudden relationships," Caesar cut in. "I think that everyone was surprised when you and Liz started going out."

"No, no, not really," Alfonse said with a grin. "He obviously had his eyes on her for a long time. I mean, do you remember when Liz got turned into a cat, and-"

"That is enough, Alfonse!" Klaus growled, but there wasn't as much malice as there had been before. It almost seemed playful, although they weren't quite there yet. "Sometimes I really wonder."

"Oh, look, our food is here!" Liz said suddenly, as they laid the plates out before them. Out of the corner of his eye, Alfonse saw Caesar's mouth watering. He had eaten quite a bit of food like this when he had lived in the Goldstein Manor, but Caesar had probably never had anything like this before.

But then Caesar sat up a little straighter, trying to cover himself as he picked up the utensils. Alfonse turned his attention back to his food, but his gaze drifted to Liz. He noted that, even though they were in a private room, out of sight, she was also using the correct utensils. It had been ingrained in him since he was a child, but he wouldn't think Liz would know this kind of stuff.

Liz noticed him, and she smiled. "I'm using the right ones, aren't I? I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but Klaus has been teaching me how to use them." Alfonse nodded.

"You're doing very well, Liz," Klaus said gently, with a smile.

Now it was Alfonse's turn to smile as he watched the two of them. In all the years they had lived together, he had rarely seen Klaus smiling like that. They may not have realized it for themselves, but it was plain for anyone to see that the two of them were smitten with each other.

'I'm glad that he could find someone who could bring him such happiness,' he thought.

As they ate, Klaus asked, "I've heard that your clinic has finally opened." Alfonse looked to Liz, who shrugged. "It was a bold choice to put it in the Forgotten City."

"I believe that the people there could use it," Alfonse answered smoothly. He wanted to look to Caesar, but he didn't want to give himself away. "Who knows whose life you could change with just a little care?"

Klaus was quiet. "If you are setting up there, does that mean that you are planning to stay in Gedonelune for a while?"

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had thought of leaving. Well, when he had come back to Gedonelune, when he promised to face his brothers, he told himself that he wasn't going to run away again. Not that he had done a very good job of facing them. How many months had he been back, and he hadn't even seen Elias yet? He couldn't bear to face his youngest brother, to see him reject him just as Klaus had.

But something was different now. He didn't want to leave this all behind. "I'm planning to stay," he said at last. "I'm not going to abandon anybody again."

"Hmm." It was impossible to read Klaus's expression, but he seemed to accept it. "I suppose that it'll look good for the Goldsteins to have a doctor in the family."

There was a lot that he was unsure of. If you had asked him before, he would have sworn up and down that he'd turn down the Goldstein name, that it would only bind him. And it wasn't like he was about to go back to the Manor, go back to being the heir, but perhaps there were some benefits to it after all.

'But there are still some things that I need to do first before I can call myself a Goldstein.'

 

Caesar was laughing as they were walking back. "Did you see the way that they were looking at each other? Completely smitten."

"Well, they've been smitten with each other for a long time," Alfonse said with a laugh. "I'm sure the whole academy could see it; I'm surprised that they couldn't."

"If I fell for someone like that, I think that I'd know," Caesar said. Somewhere, Klaus and Liz were probably having this same conversation about them. But then he noticed that Alfonse was heading in a different direction. "Do you not want to walk back today?"

"No, I'm sorry, there's something that I needed to do today," Alfonse said. "There's something that I've been putting off for a long time, but I think that it's time that I faced the music. And it's better if I do this alone."

Caesar studied his face for a minute, and then it hit him. "Oh. Well, good luck then. I hope that things go all right for the two of you."

“Thank you."

 

His heart was in his throat as he proceeded down the halls of the dorm, looking for the one. Would he even be there? He wasn't even sure that he had gotten the right room-

"Excuse me?" He tapped on a young man's shoulder; the young man had dark blue hair and a dog at his side. When he turned to look at him, his one eye widened. He had seen this young man with Liz a few times.

"You're-"

Alfonse nodded. "I'm looking for someone. Could you show me the way?"

But, when he got to his dorm, he found himself hesitating. 'What if he hates me? What if this was just a bad idea? What if he blames me for abandoning him all over again? What if this is-'

"Elias," the blue-haired young man called, "there's someone here to see you."

And the door opened, and there he was. And Elias's eyes widened, his chest tightening. "Alfonse," he said quietly, "you're back."

He didn't know what he wanted to say. "I.. I'm sorry that I didn't come back before," he said quietly, bowing his head. "There's a lot that I wanted to say, but-"

Elias threw his arms around Alfonse. "You're back! After all this time, I can't believe you're finally back!"

Alfonse gave a shaky smile and patted him on the back. "Yes, little brother," he said quietly, "I'm finally home."

 

It was so much easier than he thought it would be. They sat together and talked all night, and Alfonse finally told his youngest brother everything. He told him about why he had run away, about how he had been afraid to face them, about how he had finally decided to turn back. Of course, Elias couldn't help but notice how often a certain prince featured in these tales, but he didn't press it.

And, in turn, Elias told him his own story. He told about his own struggles at the academy, but how he had overcome them with his friends. He shared all of their awkward adventures, slipping in a lot of mishaps of a certain young wizardess.

"I'm glad that you had good friends," Alfonse said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't have been there to see it. If I had come back a little sooner-"

"Don't apologize," Elias said. "It's not as though we can travel through time, so let's look to the future. After all, it sounds like we have a lot to look forward to from now on."

"We certainly do," Alfonse said. For the first time in a long time, he had something to look forward to, and he wondered when that had happened.

* * *

 

Caesar found it hard to sleep, knowing that Alfonse was out, and he found himself waking up quite early.

'Well, I might as well start planning for my day. I've been neglecting my Prefect duties a bit lately,' he thought regretfully. 'And I could cook breakfast-'

Right then, Alfonse walked through the door, and Caesar's heart leapt into his throat. "Oh," he said, "you're back! How did it go?"

Alfonse smiled. "A lot better than expected, to be honest. He didn't hate me at all."

"That's good to hear. Would you like some breakfast?"

 


	7. A Night In

Time passed, and they each went on their separate paths. Caesar tended to his Prefect duties, and Alfonse tended to his clinic. They didn't get to spend as much time together as either of them would like, but, at the end of the day, they came home to each other.

And they started to talk. They would talk of their days, and then it started to evolve. Alfonse would share memories of his brothers, Caesar would talk of his life before. By then, the door had been fully opened, and there was no closing it.

"Hey, do you remember that one time that we were in the Night Cafe," Caesar said and you got drunk and started summoning vines everywhere? I remember how freaked out we all were; Klaus and Liz-"

"To be honest, I don't remember that," Alfonse said with a wince. "But I wouldn't be surprised. I hope that nobody got hurt?"

"I can assure you that nobody did," Caesar said quickly. "It feels like it's been forever since we partied like that. Probably not since before Lucious got out of the Labyrinth." That was before everything, and it seemed like a lifetime ago.

"It's unfortunate. Although.. It's also been a while since we had a night in, hasn't it?"

And he thought of his dream from that night, of playing board games with Alfonse as it snowed outside. He noted that it was nearing winter now. Perhaps that dream wasn't too far out of reach. "Why don't we hang out here tomorrow? We could get a few drinks, not too many though, and hang out?"

Alfonse nodded. "That sounds good. I'll try not to make such a big mess of things."

 

The next night, after he finished work, Caesar went to the Night Cafe and picked up some drinks for the two of them. Caesar had plenty of experience with drinking, but he didn't know what kind Alfonse would like.

'I guess I better get something light?' he thought. 'We don't want a repeat of that incident.'

 

Alfonse was laughing, his cheeks already flushed from the alcohol. 'Okay, maybe I overdid it a bit,' Caesar thought regretfully. He himself was still nursing his first glass.

"Alfonse," he asked, "are you all right? Perhaps we should put the bottle away."

"I'm fine! I can handle it!" he said, brushing it off. Caesar was just glad that his book was not in reach, he'd hate to have to fight off a vine beast in his own living room.

Idly, he noticed that it was raining outside, so it was starting to get cold. "Keep talking, I'm still listening," he reassured. He got to his feet, gathering some of the blankets from their beds, listening to Alfonse's voice from the other room. Gently, he draped a blanket around Alfonse's shoulders and his own, sitting back down on the couch.

"So, as I was saying, we heard this loud noise, and then the ground was starting to sink beneath us-"

Caesar leaned back as he listened to Alfonse's story and the gentle rain outside, sipping on his own drink. Truth be told, he couldn't make heads or tails of Alfonse's tale; he seemed to be talking of an adventure with quick sand, or of cannibal grass, and it kinda seemed like he was trying to tell several different stories at once, but Alfonse was smiling brightly, laughing, so he tried to listen.

Despite the cold, he was starting to feel warm, and his vision was starting to blur. Perhaps the alcohol was taking its toll on him more than he thought, but he didn't want to say anything and end this night.

'I don't think I've ever seen him look so happy,' he thought. Alfonse's eyes lit up, his smile as bright as the sun. 'I wish that it could be like this all the time.'

And it occurred to him that he didn't want this to end. Whatever he had with Alfonse, he didn't want it to stop. He didn't want to go out in search of another, he just wanted this.

And it was suddenly all very clear when he saw Alfonse's smile.

'Alfonse.. I'm in love with you.'

"Caesar?"

He sat bolt upright as he saw Alfonse staring at him, nearly falling over himself. He cleared his throat. "Yes?"

"It's getting pretty late," Alfonse said suddenly, "and I'm not feeling well. Why don't we call it a night for now?"

Caesar nodded. "That's probably for the best." As he stood, he found himself just about to trip, but Alfonse caught him just in time. Luckily, Alfonse caught him just in time.

"Woah there, I got you," Alfonse said with a smile; Caesar's heart raced as he saw that smile. It was amazing, he thought, how much things could change in a few minutes. "Here, let me help you."

* * *

 

Alfonse found himself thinking over Caesar's words as soon as Caesar had fallen asleep. He felt a strange warmth in his chest, and it wasn't just the alcohol.

'Alfonse, I love you,' Caesar had said.

'Did he realize,' Alfonse thought, 'that he said that out loud?'

 


	8. With You By My Side

"Make sure to drink lots of water."

"Ugh, yes, I know," Caesar said, holding his head in his hands. "I may have overdone it a bit."

"I'm just glad that I didn't summon any plants this time," Alfonse said cheerily. And he remembered Caesar's confession. "Although.. there was something that I wanted to ask you about last night. Something that you said."

Alfonse didn't know what he would say if it turned out to be true. Caesar was very dear to him, he had proved that time and time again, and certainly the idea of asking him out for real was familiar to him. And when he made his confession, even when he looked back on it, he felt happy. Did that mean that he was..?

"Oh, I was probably too drunk. To be honest, I don't actually remember anything from last night," Caesar said.

Oh. Of course, he couldn't expect him to remember that, and it would just be awkward to bring it up now. It was probably just a spur of the moment, drunken thought. "Nevermind," he said with a smile. "I figured it out." Caesar didn't press it.

 

But Caesar's words wouldn't leave Alfonse's mind over the next few days.

'Even if he was serious, he still has his curse to think about. I know that I'm not his true love,' Alfonse thought bitterly, 'and he doesn't have much time, does he?'

Caesar hadn't mentioned how much longer he had to find his true love, but each day that they spent together was another day that Caesar wasn't searching for his true love. People wouldn't exactly be lining up at his door if they thought that he was engaged to someone else.

'But..' He glanced over at Caesar, sitting at their dining table, 'I don't want to let him go either. Is that selfish of me?'

They both looked up at the knock on the door. "Were you expecting any visitors?" Caesar asked, and Alfonse shook his head.

“Not at this time of night.” He went to answer the door, but the blood froze in his veins as he saw the man standing there.

"It's you," the man said, "it's really you."

"Alfonse, who is it?"

Alfonse took a deep breath as he turned back to his fiance. "Well, I suppose it's about time you met. Father, this is Caesar Raphael, my fiance. Caesar, this is Walter Goldstein, my father."

 

Alfonse slipped into the bathroom, sliding down against the sink, trying to remember to breathe. Walter Goldstein was sitting on his couch, Caesar probably trying to chat with him, and he felt like he couldn't breathe.

When he thought of reconciling with his family, his priority had been on his brothers and his brothers alone. He knew that he would never go back to the manor, would never carry the weight of being the heir on his shoulders again, he had accepted that long ago. He just hadn't anticipated that Walter would come to him.

A memory flashed through his mind, of the last time that he'd seen Walter. He had been traveling with the Ministry then, and then Walter had shown up and proclaimed that he would bring him home. He had been very different than when he'd left, and Elias had told him that he was different now.

Nothing could have brought him back then though. Even if Klaus had shown up and begged him to come home, even if Caesar had called to him, he would have stayed away, because he had believed that he had messed up so badly, that he couldn't make up for it-

No, things were different now. He wasn't a runaway anymore; he had something to fight for now. But if he didn't know that he was ready to face the man out there. At least, not all alone.

He called out, "Caesar? Can you come here for a minute?"

Caesar stepped into the bathroom, instantly kneeling by his side. "Alfonse, are you all right?" he asked. "We can send him away, I promise. If you don't want him here-"

"I don't know," Alfonse said honestly. "I don't know what I want to say to him, but I know that I need to face him. But.. I don't think that I can do it alone." Caesar's eyes widened. He didn't know what he felt about Caesar, not yet, but he needed him by his side. "Please, when I go out there, will you stay with me?"

"My dear," Caesar said with a smile, "you don't even need to ask."

Taking a deep breath, Alfonse stepped out to the living room. He felt that he could do anything, if Caesar was by his side.

"It's been a while, Father," Alfonse said as he took a seat on the other couch, Caesar sitting at his side, their hands intertwined. "What brings you back here?"

"I heard that you came back." Alfonse couldn't help but think that he had been back for several months now. "I.. I thought that you would want to be left alone, but then I heard that you had gotten engaged. I wanted to give my congratulations. I heard-"

"Whatever you heard about him from the paparazzi," Alfonse cut in, "it doesn't matter to me." He squeezes Caesar's hand.

"I heard from Klaus," Walter modified, "that you were very happy together."

"Oh." Alfonse looked away. Now it was just going to look like he was being defensive; would Walter just write him off?

Walter studied him for a moment. "It's all right," he said quietly. "You have every right to guard yourself against me. When you were growing up, I would have been more critical. I was.. I wasn't a very good father to you."

Alfonse was silent, but he steadied himself. He wondered if he should say something, but Walter seemed content with him being there. At last, he asked, "What changed?"

"I got hit with a hard dose of reality," he said. "When you left.. I knew that I had to take a long, hard look at myself."

Alfonse remembered that night, he remembered the things that Klaus had said. The entire family had believed him to be dead. He hadn't thought about that when he'd fled, he'd just been trying to get away from his own mistakes. That would have quite the effect on anyone.

"I- I thought that I lost you, Alfonse. I thought that I would never get a chance to make it up to you. I was a terrible father, I know that, and if you don't want to come back, I'd understand. But I felt.. I would be remiss if I didn't try to see you again and at least say I was sorry."

Did he have to make this choice here and now? If he agreed to forgive Walter, would they think him a coward if he couldn't be a part of the family again? And what if he turned him down, closed the door, only to realize later that he wanted to see his family again?

He glanced at Caesar out of the corner of his eye, and Caesar seemed to take the hint. "Mr. Goldstein," he said, "it's getting quite late. Perhaps you could come back another night? If Alfonse wants it."

And just like that, it fell into place. He wasn't standing at a crossroads; he didn't have to make this choice now. He didn't have to forgive him entirely just yet or even at all. Even with the time that they'd spent together, he was still trying to patch things up with Klaus, after all. But they could start.

"Will you be staying in the city for a few more days?" Alfonse finally managed to ask, and Walter nodded. "Perhaps I can come by and see you tomorrow. And then we can talk more."

Walter's eyes lit up. "Alfonse-"

"I'm not promising anything yet," he said. "But perhaps it would be good to start."

 

Once Walter was gone, Alfonse turned to Caesar, smiling at him. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he would have done if Caesar hadn't been there. Would he have the strength to face his father or to forgive him?

"Thank you, Caesar. I really couldn't have done that without you," he said quietly.

"You were there for me," Caesar said with a smile. "I just thought I'd return the favor."

Alfonse didn't know, truth be told, if he was in love with Caesar, but, in that moment, it didn't matter. He looked in Caesar's eyes and pulled him into a kiss.

 


	9. Realizations

Caesar's head was spinning as he woke up the next day. It had only been a few days since he'd realized his feelings for Alfonse, and he thought that he could handle it, and then Alfonse had gone and kissed him. Alfonse hadn't even minded turning him back into a human again.

It didn't help that he was feeling achy. Was this the effects of the curse creeping up on him?

And yet, when he woke up that morning, he felt lighter than he had ever been before, like the weight of the world was off his shoulders.

He didn't know if Alfonse felt the same, but now was not the time to ask, not when he was dealing with Walter coming back into his life.

'Maybe there's somebody I can talk to about all of this.' Although, of course, the person that he had been confiding in for a while was the very source of his troubles. And a thought occurred to him, of someone that he had yet to visit in a long time. Perhaps it was finally time to visit him.

 

He had been to the Night Class dorms a few times, but he still had trouble finding them. The Night Class students rolled their eyes as they pointed the way.

When Lucious answered the door, he immediately said, "Zeus and Hiro are out."

"Actually, Lucious, I came to see you," Caesar started to say, but he found himself caught in a coughing fit. "I-I'm sorry about that."

"Are you all right, Baroque?" Caesar nodded.

"I'm fine," he said. Once again, he remembered his curse, but it had never manifested like this before. Lucious eyed him warily and then opened the door. He couldn't help but glance around; the Night Class dorms were far more impressive than theirs, he thought. When he looked back, Lucious was looking at him with wide eyes.

"When did you-" But he shook his head. "Nevermind." He went to put the kettle on.

"So I wanted to see how you were doing. It's been a little while, so how are you settling in?"

"The world has changed so much since I was sealed away," he said, sitting down at the dining table across from Caesar. "It's been quite a whirlwind; Zeus has been trying to drag me out every weekend to show me various places on campus." Caesar couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at that; Lucious wore his usual bored expression, but there was an unmistakable redness across his cheeks.

"I'm glad that you could see it all," Caesar said honestly. "Perhaps over the winter break, you'll be able to see more; I'm sure Zeus'll drag you traveling too."

"I'm sure he will." As Caesar went to get the tea, Lucious said, as casual as could be, "By the way, I wanted to ask you, when did you break your curse?"

Caesar nearly dropped the tea all over himself. "You've gotten to be mistaken- what do you mean, broke my curse?"

"You mean, you didn't know?"

"Of course I didn't know, I'm still turning into a pig when kissed! I turned into a pig just yesterday, that's what the problem was!" Caesar's face turned red as he unceremoniously told his problem. Well, he was hoping to do it with a bit more grace.

Lucious buried his face in his hands. "Why am I always the one they're coming to for love advice? First Liz is asking me about Klaus, and then- I have enough problems on my own dealing with Zeus!"

Perhaps this was a bad idea. Right now, going home and screaming into a pillow sounded like a very good idea. "You're right, I'm just gonna go home-"

"Well, you might as well sit down and tell me the whole story," Lucious said, sipping on his tea. "Perhaps I can answer your questions about the curse."

"I still turned into a pig," he said slowly. "If the curse is broken-"

“It looks like the turning into a pig thing is still a part of you, Baroque," Lucious said. "But you're not going to turn into a Wanderer, at least."

He'd spent his days resenting his curse, because he knew that it would lead to the day when he disappeared. But now, now that it was harmless?

"But this sickness, isn't that an effect of my curse?"

"..You've never had a cold before?"

So it was true then. He thought of the first time that he'd kissed Alfonse. He thought that the crowds would mock him, but Alfonse had scooped him up and kissed him without a moment of hesitation. And, truth be told, it wasn't as though there were no benefits from it-

"I'm still going to need time to process this," he decided at last. "But how did you know that my curse is broken if even I didn't notice?" Caesar asked as he took a seat across from Lucious.

"I'm the one who cast it. Besides, the shadow of death around you is gone," Lucious said. He hadn't even noticed, but was that why he had felt lighter that day? But that meant that his curse had been broken last night-

"How is this possible? The only person I kissed yesterday was Alfonse," he said. "And kissing him didn't break my curse before, even when I had the Star Sapphire in my pocket."

"The obvious solution was that you weren't in love yet," Lucious said. "But I suppose that's to be expected; I've heard you and Alfonse have had quite the whirlwind romance." Caesar blushed, bowing his head. "So then what's the problem?"

What was the problem? He thought that he'd disappear under the curse while he was falling in love with Alfonse, but now he'd just found out that he had more time than he'd ever thought possible.

"I never thought I'd see the day that my curse was broken," he said at last.

"Looks like you've got a lot to thank Alfonse for then," Lucious said plainly, and he nodded.

And suddenly he wondered why he was here; he wanted to bolt out of the room and confess his love. 'I have to see Alfonse.'

"I'm sorry, Lucious, it was nice to see you," he blurted out as he bolted to his feet, "but I have to get going, I have to see Alfonse right now."

"Baroque, wait, are you sure that you should be-" Before he could even get the thought out, Caesar was out the door, and Lucious shook his head.

 

Caesar's mind was racing as he ran back. Was Alfonse already back at the dorms? There was so much that he wanted to tell him.

And then he froze as he saw the paparazzi coming his way. "There he is!" they called. "Mr. Raphael, we have a few questions for you-"

If he made it back to the Day Class dorms, he thought, they would surely leave him alone. And he was confidant that he could outrun them.

"Excuse me, I have someone waiting for me," he said, and he took off running. He heard their footsteps behind him, but he didn't dare look back.

But he quickly realized that running when you were sick was a very bad idea indeed. He felt like his legs were about to give out beneath him, his chest felt like it was on fire, his vision swimming.

'Which way is it back to the dorms?' he thought; suddenly, all of the paths looked the same. His legs gave out as he fell.

And as he fell unconscious, he thought he saw a glimpse of golden curls above him. And a memory flashed through of his mind..

 

_It had been three years since he had been to the academy, and the world looked so different. He didn't recognize any of the students who passed him by, and it seemed like they had changed the pathways since he'd been here._

_It probably didn't help that he was wandering around campus while sick; not the best idea that he'd ever had. Now it was growing dark, and he still didn't actually have a clue where he was. 'Perhaps I should have met Klaus at the station. No use for it now.'_

_He tapped on someone's shoulder, his vision swimming. "Excuse me, sir, can you-" Suddenly, the world went dark around him, and he passed out._

_When he awoke, he caught a glimpse of golden curls, and then he realized that he was lying in a bed._

_"You took a nasty fall back there," the golden-haired man said. "But you should be all right now. It would be good for you to get some rest now."_

_So this man had been the one to save him. Caesar tried to think of anything that would give him a little dignity back. "I've been away for a while, and it seems like this campus is very different than the last time I was here."_

_"I understand," the man said as he sat up. His head was still hurting, but he could stand on his feet again. "I just got back too. Oh," he offered a hand, "I'm Alfonse, by the way. It appears that we're roommates."_

_"Caesar Raphael," he answered, shaking the man's hand._

_"Caesar? Oh, you're the other Prefect!" Come to think of it, they had mentioned that there would be another Prefect that he was working with, but somehow he didn't think that his partner would be like this. "It looks like we're going to be working together a lot. I hope that we can get along!"_

 

He remembered that bright smile now as he fell into unconsciousness. 'So that was how we met.' 


	10. In Sickness

"Alfonse!"

He had been walking on his way back to the dorms when he heard Lucious's frantic voice. Things had been going well, he had been speaking to his father that day, but then he saw the look in Lucious's eyes- "What happened? Is something wrong?"

"Caesar-" Lucious got out, "they found him unconscious-"

He probably should have listened to Lucious, but his heart was racing. He remembered that day when he visited Caesar in the prison cell, telling him the truth of his curse. He hadn't even thought to ask Caesar how long he had left- could this be an effect of the curse? How much time?

'Why didn't I ask him?' he thought. He knew that Caesar had been in love with him, he had heard him, but he had been too frustrated dealing with his own problems again to see Caesar suffering at his side.

'This has been going on too long, and now this is all my fault. If he succumbs, it'll be my fault.' And the other answer became all too clear, bitter in his mouth. He didn't want it to end; he wanted to be the one who broke his curse.

'I'm in love with Caesar.'

He took off running, ignoring Lucious calling out after him. The only thing on his mind was Caesar, and he hoped to anybody who was listening above that he wouldn't arrive too late.

 

He knelt at Caesar's side, sleeping in their room. He was still in human form, but how much longer would this last? Would he fade away?

'Is this my fault?' Alfonse thought.

"Caesar," he said, and he felt tears slipping down his cheeks, but he didn't care. "Caesar, I'm sorry. I should have let you go before, but I was selfish." When he woke up, would this have to be over? "If you wake up, I'll help you, I'll do what I have to do. I.. I love you. Just please, wake up-"

"Alfonse?"

And his face burned bright red as he heard Caesar's voice, thick with sleep but undeniable, his eyes fluttering open. "You're awake," he said quietly. "Thank goodness, you're awake- how much of that did you hear?"

“What did you mean that you'd let me go?" Caesar said.

"I thought- your curse-"

"-Is broken," Caesar said with a slow smile. "Lucious told me. Sure, I'll have to deal with turning into a pig when kissed, but at least I'm not going to wander away from you."

"How? We-" A thousand different questions bubbled at his lips, but none more important than, "You're not going to disappear?"

"I'm afraid you're stuck with me, Alfonse," he said. "If you'll have me."

That wasn't even a question, not anymore. "Yes, of course!" But another thought occurred to him. "But, if not your curse, then why did you-"

"I'm afraid I'm once again guilty of running around with a cold," Caesar said. "Perhaps a bit of exhaustion too. But there's no need to worry anymore. I'm fine. I'm going to be fine." And he smiled, truly smiled. "Although I have to say it makes me feel a lot better to have heard your confession."

Alfonse was sure his face was bright burning red. "Well then, we're even, cause you actually confessed to me when you were drunk." Caesar's face went equally as red, although that might've also been the cold.

And Alfonse was reminded that Caesar was still sick. "You should get some more rest," he told Caesar firmly. "Doctor's orders. There'll be time to talk when you get better."

"Yes, Doctor Alfonse."

 

It still didn't feel quite real, Alfonse thought the next morning. Just the day before, he thought that he was going to lose Caesar forever, and now he knew that Caesar could stay by his side, and he felt like he was floating on air.

"Here, I brought you some soup," he said, sitting at his bedside. He checked his fever, but Caesar just smiled at him.

"Don't you have work to do at the clinic?" he asked gently.

"They'll understand. After all, I have a sick patient in front of me," he said playfully. He raised a spoon full of soup, and Caesar laughed.

“I can feed myself, but.. this wouldn't be so bad."

In between bites of soup, Caesar told about his visit to Lucious, answering both of their questions. He was amazed when he realized that it was so simple.

"True love, huh?" he said quietly. He'd always liked the sound of it, but he never thought that he'd get to experience it for himself.

“And we might have gone an unusual way to get here," Caesar said, "but it looks like we got to the right place all the same."

He was inclined to agree. "Indeed. Normally, the engagement comes after you realize that you're in love, but.. I'm just happy to have you here," he said plainly. What did it matter in the orders the cards fell? "D-does this mean that we're really engaged now?"

"Well, Alfonse, I was expecting a bit more formal proposal," Caesar hinted, never losing his smile, "but I'd say so. A shame that we can't exactly tell anyone about it though, can we?"

"I don't know, I think that my brothers would find it kind of a funny story." Truth be told, he had already told Elias, but he had sworn him to secrecy, and, as far as he knew, he'd keep it.

"And we may not be able to have a big engagement party, but perhaps a holiday party would work? Like a secret one?" Caesar suggested.

Only the year before, he had celebrated the holidays all by himself. He had believed that it was all that he needed, and now to think that he had so much more to celebrate. In just a few short months, he'd made so many friends- and fallen in love. Why wouldn't he celebrate? "It'll be our little secret then."

His mind was already starting to rush with thoughts of what their wedding would be. There would be so many preparations to make, and they would be expected to get a jumpstart since they hadn't planned at all yet.

But it didn't matter, he reminded himself. It wasn't like Caesar was going to disappear on him anymore. "We have so much to talk about, but we've got time. We've got all the time in the world." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Caesar's forehead. "I love you, Caesar."

Who knew that Caesar could turn bright red even in his piggy form? "Oink!"

"Whoops."

 


	11. Winter

"Zeus, you better not try to summon something-"

Alfonse shook his head as he heard Lucious yelling after Zeus. He then turned his attention back to his father, barely able to hold back his laughter. "Well, those make quite the interesting pair, don't they?" It had been a long time since his father laugh like that, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Just make sure you have your wand, just in case," he warned. "You never know when you might have to fight something."

"I'll be sure, I'll be sure!" Walter said, waving his hand, the eggnog spilling out of his glass. "It'll take more than a little beast to take me down!"

“Are you sure that you're going to be okay?" Alfonse asked. If his friends thought that he was a bad drunk, they should have seen how ridiculous Walter could be with his drinks. "On second thought, maybe you shouldn't have your wand-"

"Don't worry, dear," Winona Goldstein stepped up to her husband, pulling him by the arm. "I'll take care of him. Why don't you go be with your friends?" She pulled Walter away, but another group came over to him.

"Liz, Klaus, it's good to see you again," he said, pulling each of them into hugs. He didn't think that they would come, but here they were.

"Looks like Father's up to his usual antics," Klaus said with a hint of a smile.

"It's nice to know that things are always going to be interesting with this family," Caesar said, coming to Alfonse's side, slipping his hand in his own. "Oh, while we've got you, there was something that I've been wanting to ask you for a while. How did you two get together anyway?"

Liz and Klaus glanced at each other, their faces going red. "O-oh, it's not that interesting of a story," Liz said hurriedly. "I'm much more curious about the two of you! I always thought you two would be cute, but it seemed so sudden."

Alfonse glanced at Caesar. "Should we tell them?" he said quietly, and Caesar shrugged. "Well, it's kind of a funny story actually. You see, after I revealed my identity, all of these noblewomen started harassing me.."

Liz's jaw dropped as they told their long story, and Klaus buried his face in his hands. "You've got to be kidding me," he said.

"In retrospect, it may not have been the greatest idea, but-"

"That's not the funny part," Liz said with a smile. "You see-"

“We were fake dating too," Klaus finished for her. "I asked her to be my partner for the same reason, but well.." Now it was Klaus's turn to blush, and he slipped his hands in Liz's.

"Oh, I see that we weren't the only ones who's fake romance turned genuine," Alfonse said with a smile. "But I'm happy for the two of you, honestly."

Klaus shook his head, but Liz just laughed and put her head on his shoulder. It may have been a rocky road, but it seemed like it had worked out for all of the parties involved.

 

"Come on, it should be right around here-"

"What are we looking for?" Alfonse asked, although he was pretty sure he already knew.

"The mistle- Oh." Caesar broke out in a wide grin as he saw the other pair standing under the mistletoe, though they immediately broke apart.

"Ahem. I was just trying to stop him from summoning something. Yeah," Lucious said, folding his arms.

"Is that why-"

Lucious grabbed Zeus by the arm and pulled him away. Caesar let out a little laugh. "Well, I saw that coming." And then his entire attention was grabbed as he saw that now Alfonse was standing under the mistletoe, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, okay~"

They shared a sweet kiss under the mistletoe, but, as always, it was broken up by Caesar turning to a pig. Alfonse didn't even bat an eye, scooping him up and pressing a kiss to his nose.

"You know that you're going to have to do that a lot," Caesar pointed out as soon as he was back in his human form, but Alfonse never lost his smile.

"I don't mind. I mean, it's a little different, but.. I love you for all of you, including the piggy side of you.”

Caesar's face went bright red, and he let out a squeak that sounded suspiciously like an oink.

Alfonse's grin grew wider. "Did you just-"

Caesar hadn't even been aware until that very moment that he'd do that. "No, I didn't, shut up."

"That was ridiculously cute," Alfonse said, taking Caesar's hand and kissing him again.

 

"All right, everyone, it's time to open gifts!"

Caesar knelt by the tree, watching as the gifts were passed out; Alfonse came to sit by his side, whispering in his ear, "I thought that we'd give our gifts when we got back to the dorm."

"That works for me." Caesar felt the small box in his pocket. As much as he would love to see Alfonse's face when he brought out the ring, most of the rest of the party thought they were already engaged. No, much better to give it in private.

But he did find some.. interesting gifts from the others. He opened one of the gifts to find a tiny costume, and he didn't need to think hard about who it was probably from. "Zeus, is this a Santa costume?"

"Just your size! There's a little hat in there and everything!" He had half a mind to remind Zeus that he kept his outfit between forms, but he decided against it.

"Is this a scrapbook?" Alfonse asked, and Walter nodded.

"For all of the wonderful memories that you're going to have," Walter said.

"I can help provide you with photos," Klaus said. "I still have my collection of photos of Elias that I should share."

"I remember you showing me those!" Liz said. "Elias was so cute when he was little."

"Klaus, what photos did you show her-"

"That reminds me," Alfonse said, "I think I have some baby pictures of Klaus that would go nicely in this~"

"Alfonse, don't you dare!" Caesar laughed as he watched the family. He had never thought that he would get the chance to have a family like this, so how wonderful it was to know.

 

"Look, it's the first snowfall of the season! Isn't it beautiful?"

Caesar couldn't take his eyes off of Alfonse as they walked together, and he was reminded of his dream from long ago. At the time, it had seemed impossible, but now here they were.

"We should take the long way home so we can admire it," he told Alfonse. "I wouldn't mind."

"Well, we could do that," Alfonse said with that charmingly innocent smile, leaning down to gather snow in his hands, "or we could have a snowball fight!"

"What- hey!" Caesar barely had time to dodge before Alfonse started flinging snowballs in his direction. He knelt down and started gathering up snowballs, which was a difficult task when dodging Alfonse's snowballs. "How did you even learn how to do this? I thought that as a noble, you'd be too busy studying all the time!"

"Me and my brothers used to do this all the time!" Alfonse boasted proudly.

Okay, so maybe things weren't quite the same as they had been in his dreams, but this wasn't bad either, he thought.

Alfonse laughed as the pelting of snowballs came to a halt. "Truce?" Caesar nodded. "We could build a snowman together, if you'd like; I haven't done that in a long time."

"That sounds like fun."

"And then maybe after this, we could go ice skating, I saw a pond over there-" Caesar couldn't help but smile as Alfonse talked about the plans they'd make; coming home from the party had turned into an impromptu date, and he was fine with that.

"Sure, sure, my dear, we've got all the time in the world." And they'd have many more winters to come, he thought. Maybe now was the best time to secure that. "But, actually, Alfonse, there was something that I wanted to ask you first."

"Sure, anything!" Alfonse replied without hesitation. He hadn't even asked yet.

"Once, I had a dream that we spent a day in the snow like this, that you would stay by my side, but when I woke.. I thought that it couldn't be. I thought only about my curse; I thought that I wouldn't get the time to spend with you. But now we have more time than I'd ever dreamed, and it's all thanks to you."

"I didn't do anything," Alfonse said shyly, but his face was burning red.

"You saved me, Alfonse, time and time again. With you, my dream became a reality. And so I wanted to ask you.." Finally, he knelt, taking out the box from his pocket, revealing a golden ring. "Alfonse Goldstein, will you marry me?"

Alfonse smiled. "Yes!"

Caesar slipped the ring onto his finger, pulling him into a kiss. When he transformed, Alfonse scooped him up in his arms and twirled him around in the air. He set Caesar down on his feet, pressing a kiss onto his forehead.

"And now, Caesar, there's something that I wanted to ask you as well." Caesar tilted his head.

"Growing up as the heir of a noble family, I thought that all of life's choices would be made for me," Alfonse explained. "Where I'd live, what I'd do with my life, who I'd marry.. And then, when things happened with Elaine, I freaked out because I believed that I'd made the wrong one. I abandoned everything, and I didn't have the courage to come back and face it. But, with you, I was finally able to make a choice for myself, and I couldn't have made a better one. And now I have a choice for you." This time, Alfonse knelt, revealing a golden ring. "Will you marry me?"

Caesar couldn't stop smiling. "Yes!"

 


	12. Epilogue

Caesar didn't think that he'd ever get used to waking up to Alfonse at his side. Alfonse was slowly awakening, his golden curls spilling onto the pillow, a sleepy smile on his lips.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, and Caesar nodded.

"It still feels like a dream, but you're really here," he said.

Alfonse laughed. "That's good. We've got a big day ahead of us, after all."

Caesar tilted his head, brain still addled from sleep. "What do you mean?" Alfonse couldn't help but let a chuckle at that. He was so adorable.

"My love," he said, "today's our wedding day."

Caesar's eyes widened, and then he bolted out of the bed. "That's today! There's so much that we have to do, I'm not nearly ready-"

Alfonse fell back laughing at the sight; how wonderful it was to see the prim and proper, always composed Caesar, so flustered for once. He suspected that this was a side of the young man that only he got to see. "Don't worry! It's still early, we've got the whole day ahead of us!"

Caesar grinned. "Yes, of course."

 

As the pair of them were getting dressed, Alfonse couldn't help but wonder about what might have been. "Do you think," Alfonse asked as he was getting ready, "that we would have ended up together had things gone a little differently?"

"What do you mean?" He helped Caesar with his collar; both of them were going to have to get used to wearing formal clothes.

"If I hadn't run away.. Or if you had ended up in the academy in a different way," he asked, and he found that he couldn't meet Caesar's eyes, "do you think that we might've still met and fallen in love?"

"I don't know. A thousand and one things might've happened," Caesar admitted. "If you stayed, you might've ended marrying a noblewoman. If I had waited a little longer, I would've been lost to my curse."

He didn't want to imagine a world like that, a world where they never fell in love. But Caesar gently tilted up Alfonse's face to meet his, and Alfonse took him in. He was dressed in a tux of dark violet, and he looked incredibly handsome.

"It looks good on you," he said honestly. Alfonse's own tux was very similar, but he was dressed in lighter colors. They were as different as day and night, perhaps, but they went well together, he decided.

"Can you believe that you're about to be Alfonse Goldstein-Raphael?" They had spent a long time talking over the names, weighing their choices, but, in the end, they had decided that they wanted to hold true to both of their families.

The music started to play, and Walter appeared in the doorway. "It's almost time, boys."

Alfonse nodded, his heart suddenly in his throat, but he slipped his arm through Caesar's and felt much more at ease. He could get through this, he thought, if he had Caesar at his side. "Are you ready?"

Caesar nodded. But, as they started to walk towards the door, Alfonse felt he had to say something. So he stopped and pulled his groom close again. "Caesar, there are a thousand ways that things could have gone, but.. I'd like to think that in any life, no matter what, all things considered, I'd still choose you."

 


End file.
